Since the introduction of exchange traded forex futures contract in 1972 at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the ever increasing transaction volume and participation has established the popularity of Forex in the world.
Exchange-traded currency futures volume down 80% since Jun
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The trade deficit makes up an important part of the current account deficit, which had touched an all-time high of 4.8 per cent in 2012-13.
Amid fast-depleting forex reserves, the Finance Ministry on Wednesday signalled that it was not in favour of selling the dollar to defend any particular level of the rupee. "Let it (rupee) reach whatever levels it has to reach. We can't fritter away reserves on defending some artificial, imaginary rate of exchange," a senior finance ministry official told Business Standard. Forex reserves declined to a near two-year low of $545.65 billion as on September 16, down $85.88 billion from the level that existed on February 25, a day after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Business is down to such an extent that last year these firms could not even meet RBI's capital norm of Rs 50 million for partnerships and Rs 100 million for public and private firms in this line of business.
The rupee remains overvalued against the currencies of India's trading partners, even as it hit record lows against the dollar in August and September. According to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) real effective exchange rate (REER) index, the rupee stood at 5.5 per cent above its fair value in August, down from 7.7 per cent in July. This slight easing followed fears of a US recession and the unwinding of yen carry trades, which exerted pressure on the Indian currency.
The central government and the Reserve Bank of India have devised a country-specific plan towards implementation of overseas trade in rupee, people aware of the matter said. To start with, a small number of banks will be allowed to manage cross-border transactions in domestic currency with a particular country. "Small countries that are dollar-deficient have shown interest in doing trade in rupee.
The Budget should undertake further reductions in import tariffs and seriously consider an announcement of India's intention to join one or both of the two Asian mega-regional free trade agreements, suggests Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the Government of India.
Amid reports of corporates making losses on hedging forex products other than dollar, the Reserve Bank may soon come out with guidelines on forex derivatives, which is widely expected to discourage banks from trading in foreign currencies other than in rupee-dollar. "We are working on the guidelines of forex derivatives," an RBI spokesperson told PTI.
The Reserve Bank on Monday asked banks to put in place additional arrangements for export and import transactions in Indian rupees in view of increasing interest of the global trading community in the domestic currency. Before putting in place this mechanism, banks will require prior approval from the Foreign Exchange Department of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the central bank said in a circular. "In order to promote growth of global trade with emphasis on exports from India and to support the increasing interest of global trading community in INR, it has been decided to put in place an additional arrangement for invoicing, payment, and settlement of exports / imports in INR," it said.
If Sebi and RBI remain quiet about this brazenly illegal activity, will someone in the finance ministry or the NITI Aayog take a closer look, asks Debashis Basu.
Experts tell Tinesh Bhasin how to pick one to save money as well as some troubles later
These include Goldman Sachs, HSBC, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, RBS, Citigroup and JP Morgan and they have said in their respective regulatory filings that they are cooperating with the relevant authorities in the investigations.
Around six weeks ago, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, India's largest drugmaker, suffered a setback, which led to a selloff in the share. The US District Court of New Jersey granted Incyte's request for a preliminary injunction against Sun Pharma's launch of Leqselvi, a drug that treats alopecia.
Market participants do not expect any immediate impact on the rupee from the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) a "comprehensive" master direction aimed at strengthening the framework for hedging foreign exchange risks. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, in his monetary policy statement, revealed that the central bank is poised to issue a master direction to consolidate guidelines for all types of forex transactions. But this development, according to market players, is more of a directional guidance than a mandatory directive.
The rupee depreciated 31 paise to an all-time low of 80.15 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday tracking the strength of the American currency and firm crude oil prices. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 80.10 against the dollar, then lost ground to quote at 80.15, registering a fall of 31 paise from the last close. On Friday, the rupee closed at 79.84 against the dollar.
If growth reverts to the pre-Covid level, a lot of people may have to temper their rosy optimism, points out Debashis Basu.
R N Subramanian, manager-foreign exchange, Canara Bank, will be the new chairman of the Forex Association of India for the current financial year 2004-05
The rupee has remained largely stable against the US greenback in the current calendar year (CY 2024), depreciating by just 0.59 per cent so far. However, it has considerably weakened against the euro and pound. The local currency has depreciated by 1.6 per cent against the euro and 5.6 per cent against the pound, as both currencies strengthened against the dollar during this period.
Anil Agarwal, chairman of metals major Vedanta group, has called for the sale of government stake in Bharat Gold Mine and Hutti Gold Mine so as to increase production of the yellow metal in the country. In a social media post, Agarwal said global gold prices are currently at record highs and India imports 99.9 per cent of its requirement. "With massive investments, we can be a major producer of gold and a big generator of employment," Agarwal said.
China's central banker on Monday acknowledged the presence of some speculative funds in the nation's record foreign exchange reserves of nearly $610 billion but asserted that the volume was 'not big.'
Today, they can't meet even the piffling capital norm set by Mint Road - Rs 5 crore for partnerships and Rs 10 crore for public and private firms in this line of business. Bulk of the trades are put through e-platform offerings of Reuters, Bloomberg, JPMorgan, Barclays or Deutsche Bank. And they have the web-based FXall, FXconnect, Atriax, Hotspotfx and LavaFX for company.
Reserve Bank has discreetly phoned trading desks with unusually explicit messages to cut their speculative positions in the currency.
'The RBI's MPC will maintain the current policy rates (6.50%) at the policy meeting, given ongoing inflationary pressures.'
The finance ministry on Monday said the ability of the Reserve Bank to intervene in the forex market to arrest the fall in rupee is limited, even as the Indian currency declined to a 32-month low of Rs 51.50 per US dollar in the early trade.
India on Monday asserted that its friendly ties with the Maldives will continue as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Mohamed Muizzu unveiled a blueprint for comprehensive economic and maritime cooperation, signalling a reset of the relationship that had hit a rough patch last year due to anti-New Delhi rhetoric.
The Union Finance Ministry on Friday announced key amendments to foreign exchange (forex) regulations, including mandating government approvals for all investments originating from countries that share land borders with India. The latest amendments also seek to simplify cross-border share swaps and streamline key definitions, such as "control". The updated regulations have aligned the treatment of downstream investments made by overseas citizen of India (OCI)-owned entities with those owned by non-resident Indians (NRIs) on a non-repatriation basis.
The rupee depreciated 6 paise to 77.50 against the US dollar in the opening trade on Wednesday as a surging American currency in the overseas markets and persistent foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiment. Besides, rising global crude prices impacted the domestic unit, forex traders said. However, a higher opening in the domestic equity market restricted the rupee's fall, they added.
Exchange-traded currency derivatives volumes are likely to drop in view of new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rules, casting a cloud over further participation of retail investors and proprietary traders. There are concerns that existing positions without any underlying exposure will need to be liquidated. Also, weighed down by dollar demand from local oil companies and weakness in its Asian peers, the rupee on Wednesday (April 3) ended at a new closing low of 83.44 versus the US currency.
Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 5 per cent, followed by HDFC twins, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and SBI. NSE Nifty zoomed 274.20 points to end at 14,982.
ONGC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, HCL Tech, NTPC and ITC. On the other hand, UltraTech Cement, TCS, Tata Steel, Titan and HDFC were among the gainers.
Tech Mahindra was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting around 3 per cent, followed by Titan, Nestle India, HUL, ITC, Asian Paints and HDFC duo. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, M&M and Sun Pharma were among the laggards. NSE Nifty rose 25.15 points or 0.22 per cent to 11,247.55.
China keeps most of its foreign reserves in the United States Government securities.
The rupee gained 11 paise to 82.68 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday as the American currency retreated from its elevated levels. Forex traders said sustained foreign fund outflows weighed on the local unit and restricted the appreciation bias. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.69 against the dollar and marginally rose to 82.68, registering a rise of 11 paise over its previous close amid a positive trend in domestic equities.
Enforcement Directorate is jointly probing the case.
The rupee depreciated by 9 paise and settled at its all-time low level of 83.13 against the US dollar on Wednesday, weighed down by a surge in crude oil prices and strong American currency. Forex traders said the Indian rupee depreciated as the US dollar rose to the highest levels in six months. Moreover, elevated crude oil prices also weighed on rupee.
The manipulation is suspected to have spread across the world.
The rupee ended at 59.18 compared with previous close of 59.33 to the dollar.
Two-wheeler exports from India have decreased by 20 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 1.69 million units in the first half (H1) of 2023-24 (FY24) due to a challenging geopolitical situation and foreign exchange (forex) crises in key markets such as South Asia, industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) said on Monday. On the other hand, passenger vehicle (PV) exports in H1FY24 increased by 5 per cent to 336,754 units because the key markets are much more diversified worldwide, Vinod Aggarwal, president, Siam, told reporters during a press conference. The Russia-Ukraine war, which started in February 2022, has brought significant instability to global fuel prices.
HCL Tech was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 4 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, Infosys, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement and Tech Mahindra. On the other hand, Titan, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI and Bajaj Finance were among the main laggards.
